Swim Team Drama

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents complaining that their kid didn’t swim “X” stroke, parents telling the coach that their kid was VERY DISAPPOINTED that they didn’t make it to divisionals.

Otherwise it was a fun season.

Ugh my kid has been disappointed at not making it to divisionals and I’ve definitely mentioned that to others in conversation. It doesn’t mean I thought they should have been picked at all. The coach makes the right decisions and I’d never question them (and it’s been very clear cut) but it’s ok for kids to be disappointed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents complaining that their kid didn’t swim “X” stroke, parents telling the coach that their kid was VERY DISAPPOINTED that they didn’t make it to divisionals.

Otherwise it was a fun season.

We had a parent who was “SO disappointed” about an award situation that she wrote and sent a multi-paragraph email while the end of season picnic was still happening.

What was the crux of her issue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents complaining that their kid didn’t swim “X” stroke, parents telling the coach that their kid was VERY DISAPPOINTED that they didn’t make it to divisionals.

Otherwise it was a fun season.

Ugh my kid has been disappointed at not making it to divisionals and I’ve definitely mentioned that to others in conversation. It doesn’t mean I thought they should have been picked at all. The coach makes the right decisions and I’d never question them (and it’s been very clear cut) but it’s ok for kids to be disappointed!

Life gives the test first....and the lesson after.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents complaining that their kid didn’t swim “X” stroke, parents telling the coach that their kid was VERY DISAPPOINTED that they didn’t make it to divisionals.

Otherwise it was a fun season.

We had a parent who was “SO disappointed” about an award situation that she wrote and sent a multi-paragraph email while the end of season picnic was still happening.

Wow. I just drank my wine and went home early. Maybe she had a little TOO much wine. The awards at our pool were honestly laughable. Sometimes I am not sure why we let our kids participate in this farce: starting to understand why the older parents we know started planning vacations during swim season!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looks like a CRE developer who ran for the board last year is now suing the pool. Docket CL23001682. Wish I could see the filing

I cannot pull anything with that docket number? Arlington civil case - who are the parties?

It’s in the 17th Judicial Circuit if that means anything. The defendant is “Dominion Hills Area Recreation”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents complaining that their kid didn’t swim “X” stroke, parents telling the coach that their kid was VERY DISAPPOINTED that they didn’t make it to divisionals.

Otherwise it was a fun season.

We had a parent who was “SO disappointed” about an award situation that she wrote and sent a multi-paragraph email while the end of season picnic was still happening.

Wow. I just drank my wine and went home early. Maybe she had a little TOO much wine. The awards at our pool were honestly laughable. Sometimes I am not sure why we let our kids participate in this farce: starting to understand why the older parents we know started planning vacations during swim season!

I rolled my eyes a little at our awards too (though it was a fun night overall). Definitely reflected the "who's who" of the families in the in-crowd. We also have a big team and some kids got multiple awards - seems like they could have spread those out a bit, especially some of the more subjective ones. (My kids are new and average and did not deserve nor get any special awards - but there were plenty of kids they could have given awards to without giving the same kids 2 or 3.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents complaining that their kid didn’t swim “X” stroke, parents telling the coach that their kid was VERY DISAPPOINTED that they didn’t make it to divisionals.

Otherwise it was a fun season.

Ugh my kid has been disappointed at not making it to divisionals and I’ve definitely mentioned that to others in conversation. It doesn’t mean I thought they should have been picked at all. The coach makes the right decisions and I’d never question them (and it’s been very clear cut) but it’s ok for kids to be disappointed!

Someone told me a parent was so disappointed, they sent a letter to the board for further investigation into how the lineup was chosen. It's ok for a kid to be disappointed. This is going to be the first of many disappointments in life. Move on. The parent needs to get a life!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looks like a CRE developer who ran for the board last year is now suing the pool. Docket CL23001682. Wish I could see the filing

Ding ding ding. The brainiacs hired a real estate lawyer 🤦‍♀️

Plaintiff has been in the news before

https://wjla.com/news/local/youre-ignoring-us-arlington-families-speak-out-against-proposed-school-reassignments

They had already been warned in writing the year prior that they were at risk of losing their membership based on her behavior. If I were this couple I'd be packing up and leaving town I'd be so ashamed. Instead they doubled down by suing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents complaining that their kid didn’t swim “X” stroke, parents telling the coach that their kid was VERY DISAPPOINTED that they didn’t make it to divisionals.

Otherwise it was a fun season.

We had a parent who was “SO disappointed” about an award situation that she wrote and sent a multi-paragraph email while the end of season picnic was still happening.

Wow. I just drank my wine and went home early. Maybe she had a little TOO much wine. The awards at our pool were honestly laughable. Sometimes I am not sure why we let our kids participate in this farce: starting to understand why the older parents we know started planning vacations during swim season!

I rolled my eyes a little at our awards too (though it was a fun night overall). Definitely reflected the "who's who" of the families in the in-crowd. We also have a big team and some kids got multiple awards - seems like they could have spread those out a bit, especially some of the more subjective ones. (My kids are new and average and did not deserve nor get any special awards - but there were plenty of kids they could have given awards to without giving the same kids 2 or 3.)

We have a game where we take a drink every time a kid who swims for the coach's club year round gets a discretionary coach's award. It gets us pretty tipsy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looks like a CRE developer who ran for the board last year is now suing the pool. Docket CL23001682. Wish I could see the filing

Ding ding ding. The brainiacs hired a real estate lawyer 🤦‍♀️

Plaintiff has been in the news before

https://wjla.com/news/local/youre-ignoring-us-arlington-families-speak-out-against-proposed-school-reassignments

They had already been warned in writing the year prior that they were at risk of losing their membership based on her behavior. If I were this couple I'd be packing up and leaving town I'd be so ashamed. Instead they doubled down by suing.

What was the behavior?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. This makes me really glad I’m not at some of your pools. Our mcsl pool is a lovely experience with everyone pitching in and the high schools coaches are phenomenal with the kids.

Ha, same here. I wonder if I'm just oblivious to the drama or if my pool was drama free. As far as I could tell, it was all around great swim season, great coaching and nearly all of the kids enjoyed it. There are a few parents who take swimming way too seriously, but I tune that part out mostly.

Ha! Same here.

My kid enjoyed summer swim so much that we decided to try out for year round club swim. THAT was the first time I saw parents going insane. There were kids crying and it felt like another world. Maybe it was because nobody knew each other so there’s no social pressure to have a filter? Or maybe all those parents at tryouts belong to drama filled summer teams?

Without a doubt the parents who take swimming too seriously are also a part of the year round swim. However, my kid still enjoys the indoor swimming and I like working at those meets but it is a different vibe than summer for sure.

I actually find the year round meets much more relaxed. I think it's because kids get to swim all their events in every meet. In summer swim, kids can get bumped from "their" event by a friend or their coach can randomly put them in an event they'd rather not swim and are the #3 seed behind two teammates instead of in an event they could have won. That dynamic is a recipe for drama that you don't have in winter.

Agree winter swim seems much more focused on swimming and the structure (with kids picking their events and clear criteria for meets) just seems less drama inducing. Plus it is less social for parents with more reasonable volunteer requirements), which also cuts down on the drama. My family all decided we didn't like the drama of summer swim so now skip it but still do winter swim.

What do you all think High School swimming is going to be like? It's the same scenario. As are college meets. The coach puts the best line up in that they can. Sorry if that means your kid sits out or swims events they don't like.

Wait, I thought summer swim was just for fun. Now you're saying it's preparing 8&u's for college swim meets.

Ha! We have parents like that too. This is summer swim. It's all about fun. This is not training for the Olympics and your kid is not going to a D1 school. These parents need a life.

There are two kinds of parents: the ones who want the fastest kids to swim in the events that will help the team win, and the parents that say they don’t care about winning but want their kids to get some of the glory even when they don’t earn it. The second category is worse IMO.

THIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looks like a CRE developer who ran for the board last year is now suing the pool. Docket CL23001682. Wish I could see the filing

Ding ding ding. The brainiacs hired a real estate lawyer 🤦‍♀️

Plaintiff has been in the news before

https://wjla.com/news/local/youre-ignoring-us-arlington-families-speak-out-against-proposed-school-reassignments

They had already been warned in writing the year prior that they were at risk of losing their membership based on her behavior. If I were this couple I'd be packing up and leaving town I'd be so ashamed. Instead they doubled down by suing.

Their poor kids. How mortifying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents complaining that their kid didn’t swim “X” stroke, parents telling the coach that their kid was VERY DISAPPOINTED that they didn’t make it to divisionals.

Otherwise it was a fun season.

We had a parent who was “SO disappointed” about an award situation that she wrote and sent a multi-paragraph email while the end of season picnic was still happening.

Wow. I just drank my wine and went home early. Maybe she had a little TOO much wine. The awards at our pool were honestly laughable. Sometimes I am not sure why we let our kids participate in this farce: starting to understand why the older parents we know started planning vacations during swim season!

I rolled my eyes a little at our awards too (though it was a fun night overall). Definitely reflected the "who's who" of the families in the in-crowd. We also have a big team and some kids got multiple awards - seems like they could have spread those out a bit, especially some of the more subjective ones. (My kids are new and average and did not deserve nor get any special awards - but there were plenty of kids they could have given awards to without giving the same kids 2 or 3.)

They are all subjective, lol. There’s a noticeable drop off in participation in summer swim as the age groups go up. Trophies don’t have the same appeal when it’s obvious they aren’t earned—kids move on but not without some drama. Best not to encourage kids to get too invested in the awards, but that’s a topic for another day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looks like a CRE developer who ran for the board last year is now suing the pool. Docket CL23001682. Wish I could see the filing

Ding ding ding. The brainiacs hired a real estate lawyer 🤦‍♀️

Plaintiff has been in the news before

https://wjla.com/news/local/youre-ignoring-us-arlington-families-speak-out-against-proposed-school-reassignments

They had already been warned in writing the year prior that they were at risk of losing their membership based on her behavior. If I were this couple I'd be packing up and leaving town I'd be so ashamed. Instead they doubled down by suing.

Their poor kids. How mortifying.

The parents specifically were kicked out and not allowed on the property even for other events. Their kids could still go to the pool as guests of other members. Just not the parents. They waited until after swim season to kick them out so the kids could finish the season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents complaining that their kid didn’t swim “X” stroke, parents telling the coach that their kid was VERY DISAPPOINTED that they didn’t make it to divisionals.

Otherwise it was a fun season.

We had a parent who was “SO disappointed” about an award situation that she wrote and sent a multi-paragraph email while the end of season picnic was still happening.

Wow. I just drank my wine and went home early. Maybe she had a little TOO much wine. The awards at our pool were honestly laughable. Sometimes I am not sure why we let our kids participate in this farce: starting to understand why the older parents we know started planning vacations during swim season!

I rolled my eyes a little at our awards too (though it was a fun night overall). Definitely reflected the "who's who" of the families in the in-crowd. We also have a big team and some kids got multiple awards - seems like they could have spread those out a bit, especially some of the more subjective ones. (My kids are new and average and did not deserve nor get any special awards - but there were plenty of kids they could have given awards to without giving the same kids 2 or 3.)

They are all subjective, lol. There’s a noticeable drop off in participation in summer swim as the age groups go up. Trophies don’t have the same appeal when it’s obvious they aren’t earned—kids move on but not without some drama. Best not to encourage kids to get too invested in the awards, but that’s a topic for another day.

Except for MVP, at least at our pool. It is purely based on points earned in individual races ( not relays). We had a couple kids win all their races so they both got it.